Events

Every semester SURCLA presents regular seminars on topics of interest to students of Spanish and Latin American Studies, as well as a series of documentary screenings. See "Latest Events" for upcoming talks and screenings.

This SURCLA seminar has been cancelled due to planned industrial action at the University.

Fernando LópezUniversity of New South Wales

The 1973 military coups in Uruguay and Chile produced radical changes for South America. Supported by the Nixon administration and regional powers like Brazil, Juan María Bordaberry and General Augusto Pinochet spearheaded a process that led to greater regional cooperation between countries, especially on economic development, and security matters. The Uruguayan dictator Juan María Bordaberry increased calls for unity, establishing a number of bilateral and multilateral agreements to strengthen regional economic ties. The Chilean junta was one of the most receptive of Bordaberry’s calls for unity and expanded it to focus on improving working relations with its neighbours' security forces. The work carried out by the Uruguayan and Chilean regimes, and the international political situation helped the armed forces in the Southern Cone to set aside old military and geopolitical rivalries. This spirit of cooperation led to the transnationalization of state terrorism as a tool to neutralize the activities of the exiles and their supporters who had effectively undermined and isolated these regimes from key international allies.